2010 had better be a good year...

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DJ Zac

DJ Zac

DJ
Dec 4, 2006
1,886
16
61
Upstate NY
www.djzacbarr.com
I'm at a point where it's finally time to go digital... It's just getting too hard to lug around CDs and keep track of where songs are... I find myself spending more time looking up song locations than ever before, and it feels like it is getting in the way of controlling the floe of the floor...

So... I need to buy a laptop (I don't even have one of THOSE yet...), I assume I'll need an external sound card, and God only knows what else...

I figure the first thing I'll buy is an external hard drive and start ripping my CDs to it from my desktop over the winter. At least then, THAT part will be over with... Next will be whatever program I decide to go with (leaning towards SoftJock for obvious reasons...), purchase it, load it to the desktop and start learning.

I also need to invest in a second Bose L1 set-up... Again, it's just time, and there's no time like the immediate future...

All in all, I figure I'm looking at a total investment in 2010 of about $5,000. I know not a huge amount, but not chump change either... On the up side, it'll be great year for write-offs when it comes time to pay the tax man...

Maybe in my next post I'll get into my need for a new vehicle... :sqfrown:
 
Don't worry Zac -- whatever software you decide on, I'll still help out :)

If you want to check out the ripping tutorial I have for Audiograbber to get started, it's here:

http://rockitprodj.softjock.com/rockitprodj-tutorials-mp3ripping.htm


Everybody has their own tastes in ripping software, but I still find AG the quickest, and great quality as well (it's free too). Just make sure whatever you use, you rip to MP3 format -- they will play on anything.

As for lappy's -- I would only say stay away from the latest Toshibas -- I've seen lots of driver issues, that conflict with audio/video software in the past year on them. They may have fixed that by now, but just throwing it out there...

Break a leg dude -- and you know where to find me :)
 
Zac, you're missing another piece of equipment and that is a second laptop. Yes as a backup we all know these things have a difficult personality at times and decide to go on strike when you least expect it so redundancy is important.
 
Zac..

We have been completely computer digital for 6 years now. Our investment goes into this and the Bose systems, not lights. However, in 2010, will be an investment in another Bose compact and uplighting.

Then our sets will be complete. Go digital, you'll be alot better off.
 
If there's anyone here who can give you the straight poop on going digital it's Rick.

I'm not saying this because Rick is a sponsor and a friend. Rather, Rick has all the inside skinny you'll need to do it right the first time. Rick knows what works and what doesn't. He'll never steer you wrong. :)
 
Fred Wright said:
If there's anyone here who can give you the straight poop on going digital it's Rick.

I'm not saying this because Rick is a sponsor and a friend. Rather, Rick has all the inside skinny you'll need to do it right the first time. Rick knows what works and what doesn't. He'll never steer you wrong. :)
Click to expand...


Not sure I can live up to them accolades Bro -- but I'll try my best... :sqbiggrin:


BTW, there was this one time on my boat (actually, it wasn't my boat, it was my bosses boat), and there was this sand bar I steered over. It was after 5 though, and he's the one that brought out the shots... :sqlaugh: :rofl:
 
DJ SVO said:
Zac, you're missing another piece of equipment and that is a second laptop. Yes as a backup we all know these things have a difficult personality at times and decide to go on strike when you least expect it so redundancy is important.
Click to expand...

DJ SVO - Too true... For those who are 100% digital, do you carry CD players at all, or just use the CD-Rom drive if you should need to play a CD? Redundancy can't be minimized (hence the upgrade to a second L1...)

AlbanyAMS said:
We have been completely computer digital for 6 years now. Our investment goes into this and the Bose systems, not lights. However, in 2010, will be an investment in another Bose compact and uplighting.

Then our sets will be complete. Go digital, you'll be alot better off.
Click to expand...

Tim - I've spent enough on lights over the last year or so... (about $1500 with cords, controllers, etc.) That was for clients and perceived "added value." THIS year is about ME and making MY life easier... That's why it's time to go digital...

Fred Wright said:
If there's anyone here who can give you the straight poop on going digital it's Rick.

I'm not saying this because Rick is a sponsor and a friend. Rather, Rick has all the inside skinny you'll need to do it right the first time. Rick knows what works and what doesn't. He'll never steer you wrong. :)
Click to expand...

Fred - Rick already has the sale... I'm a big believer in doing business with people I know whenever possible... :)
 
Fred Wright said:
If there's anyone here who can give you the straight poop on going digital it's Rick.

I'm not saying this because Rick is a sponsor and a friend. Rather, Rick has all the inside skinny you'll need to do it right the first time. Rick knows what works and what doesn't. He'll never steer you wrong. :)
Click to expand...
+1 on that...

If yer need help with Konverting your Karaoke.... let me know...
 
You've got the right idea, by starting with the music first. Depending on how much music you carry, this part will be an enduring labor of love. The upside is: once it's done, it's done. Your collection will be usable if and when you change controllers, or software, etc.

May I make a slight suggestion on the ripping process? Rip everything to uncompressed .wav files first. Then pick an mp3 bitrate (or OTS format, if you go that route), and batch convert to it, saving the uncompressed .wav files on an external drive, in case you decide later to batch convert to something else.
 
Steve Sharp said:
You've got the right idea, by starting with the music first. Depending on how much music you carry, this part will be an enduring labor of love. The upside is: once it's done, it's done. Your collection will be usable if and when you change controllers, or software, etc.

May I make a slight suggestion on the ripping process? Rip everything to uncompressed .wav files first. Then pick an mp3 bitrate (or OTS format, if you go that route), and batch convert to it, saving the uncompressed .wav files on an external drive, in case you decide later to batch convert to something else.
Click to expand...

+1 and a bonus point.... he shoots he scores!!!!!!!
 
Steve Sharp said:
You've got the right idea, by starting with the music first. Depending on how much music you carry, this part will be an enduring labor of love. The upside is: once it's done, it's done. Your collection will be usable if and when you change controllers, or software, etc.

May I make a slight suggestion on the ripping process? Rip everything to uncompressed .wav files first. Then pick an mp3 bitrate (or OTS format, if you go that route), and batch convert to it, saving the uncompressed .wav files on an external drive, in case you decide later to batch convert to something else.
Click to expand...

Heed Steve's advice. That was the mistake I made off the mark. I ripped it all one by one at 320 bitrate and although I have never changed format I would do it this way if I ever did it again.

The other thing is back up both the .WAV files and the MP3s multiple times. HDD Space is cheap don't skimp on this area
 
Steve Sharp said:
You've got the right idea, by starting with the music first. Depending on how much music you carry, this part will be an enduring labor of love. The upside is: once it's done, it's done. Your collection will be usable if and when you change controllers, or software, etc.

May I make a slight suggestion on the ripping process? Rip everything to uncompressed .wav files first. Then pick an mp3 bitrate (or OTS format, if you go that route), and batch convert to it, saving the uncompressed .wav files on an external drive, in case you decide later to batch convert to something else.
Click to expand...


That's all in the tutorial Steve. :)


BTW, I want you all to know, I did not do that AG tutorial to sell my own software (although, if you click on the Google ads while yer there, I get a couple pennies). If anybody wants to buy my stuff as well, that's fine too,


I did it because I know AG, I know Jackie, and I got tired of doing it over the phone.


It's honestly a great program, and I will extol the virtues of a great program, even if I didn't write it -- I know quality when I see it :)


And Tim, stop being mad at me -- I'm actually a nice guy. I just like to have fun while I'm working, and lighten my stress load :)
 
Steve Sharp said:
You've got the right idea, by starting with the music first. Depending on how much music you carry, this part will be an enduring labor of love. The upside is: once it's done, it's done. Your collection will be usable if and when you change controllers, or software, etc.

May I make a slight suggestion on the ripping process? Rip everything to uncompressed .wav files first. Then pick an mp3 bitrate (or OTS format, if you go that route), and batch convert to it, saving the uncompressed .wav files on an external drive, in case you decide later to batch convert to something else.
Click to expand...

I think nowadays you are safe to assume that MP3 is the ideal file extension you want to use on your music files... And notice the two words that I used to define my point, Nowadays and Assume...

Technology always advanced and I would not be surprised that in a few years, new compression algorithms allow for files to retain more of the original information in a much smaller file... But if that happens ALLL the programs out now would have to change their coding to accept the new file structures... That's a pain in the u know what...

Never the less, this is great advice that I did not even think about... But be prepared to have tons and tons of space available depending on the number of CD's you have... Given that each CD holds approximately 700 megabytes of audio in them, 10 cd's quicly becomes 7 gigabytes, and 100 cd's becomes 70 Gigabytes... (If my math serves me right)...

Also note that if you rip straight to MP3, you will be able to automatically write the ID3 tags into the file... The ID3 Tags are what the DJ programs use to read and display the artist, track name, and BPM of a song... it's like a mini database in each song...

You could do it if you go straight to wave, but you would have to name each file in the same exact structure... for example...

Artist-title-bpm-album.wav

Usher-Yeah-105-Confessions.wav (I'm guessing at the album)

then when you convert from Wav to MP3 you can tell the audio converter to populate the mp3 tags automatically and designate where to get the artist info, the song title, and the album name...
 
Frank,

AudioGrabber pops a tag at the end of WAV files (simple, ID3 V1 type tag). When it converts to MP3, it reads that tag info, and builds the MP3 tag for the converted file, without having to rely upon a filename mask.

I duplicated that functionality in my own software -- Rockit can read and write AG WAV tags, as well as write its own.

The reason I chose to duplicate it, is that AG has been around for ages in the MP3/DJ world, and works flawlessly. :)

So, the tutorial lays out the basics, and yes, it does take a bit of space to save all that WAV stuff -- but in the long run, I have found it to be a great tool, and very easy to convert those WAVs to anything else easily. Hard drives to store them on cost money, but the time to re-rip the CD's, costs more.

So -- I continue to rip to WAV :)
 
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